The present invention relates to a tire casing preparation system for preparing worn tire casings for re-manufacturing or re-treading. The tire casing preparation system is also suitable for the preparation of new tire casings of the treadless type.
Tire casings are conventionally prepared for re-treading by means of a buffing machine consisting of a stationary assembly upon which the casing is mounted and inflated for a buffing operation. The quality, consistency, and productivity levels at which casings may be prepared using this known technique are quite limited. Further, since the tire casing is prepared at one stationary location, there has been little incentive or opportunity to improve the preparation operation because that would only add to the complexity of the hardware involved. In addition, since all operations required to prepare tire casings must be performed at one stationary location, the time required to perform all these operations is very long, and the finished prepared casing quality is often compromised. Thus, known tire casing preparation systems have been limited in productivity and the kind of tire casing preparation and quality consistency that can be achieved.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide an improved tire casing preparation system capable of preparing tire casings rapidly and economically, and simultaneously provide consistently high quality prepared casings.